This shitfest of a piece of petroleum by product (can't bring myself to call it a record) is possibly the very nadir of their catalogue...I had to pause and think about it,but yes it is worse than Snakes and Arrows and VT (oh, and that forgettable thingy about wind up angels) which is a considerable achievement,and I think it even edges out RTB in the stinker stakes.

Not sure terms like "heavy" and "poppy" have any relevance here, but I can almost stomach Animate (on a good day), however the cringeworthy,buttock-clenchingly embarrassing Nobody's Hero takes the moldy cake......the sentiment of the song is worthy, even noble, but totally destroyed by the most ham fisted, inept and socially gauche lyrics I have heard in a long time.

Rating?....if it were possible I'd give it a minus 10, but in the spirit of the poll I shall say a barely deserved 1

Counterparts is nowhere near my favourite RUSH album, but I have to say, Fridge, that you and I are fans of two completely different bands both named RUSH.

No, same band, we just have differing views on some of their catalogue.

No, I am being quite serious about it being a different band. I'll explain:

I rank Counterparts as the 11th best RUSH studio album. So really it isn't one of my favourites, but I like enough songs on it that it isn't in the bottom third. That said, there are albums from every decade that I rank higher than Counterparts except for the 70s. Meaning that even though it isn't an album I favour that much, I still like Counterparts BETTER than anything RUSH released prior to Permanent Waves. Not by a little, either. The only album that I consider even close to Counterparts from the 70s is A Farewell To Kings (yes, I dislike Hemispheres).

Permanent Waves is a notable landmark, because it signalled a sea-change from long prog-rock multi-part songs to more easily accessible rock with popular chorus and melody structure. It also featured a lyrical shift from fantasy to poignant socially conscious lyrics, which is also important to me. The band was forever changed from that point and adopted a completely new ethos and song writing style which persisted until the end of their career. It is arguable that Clockwork Angels in some ways was a return to that pre-1980 style, and it is hardly surprising that it is my least favourite album released by the band not put out in the 1970s (excluding Feedback).

That 70s band, I do not like all that much. Had RUSH broken up after Hemispheres, I would have never listened to them. Had RUSH continued to release 4 to 6 track albums with multi-part progressive rock songs with starts and stops in them, I would have never bought an album. Had RUSH released albums that sounded vaguely Led Zeppeliny (like the 1st 2 albums) for the rest of their career, I would have never bought a RUSH album. I only started being a RUSH fan because the music they recorded on Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, and Hold Your Fire. Those were the 3 albums that came out when I was a little kid discovering music. That is the RUSH sound I fell in love with. Some of the evolution afterwards I love (Roll The Bones and Snakes & Arrows) and some of it I find less good (Counterparts and Clockwork Angels), but ALL of it I like better than ANYTHING RUSH put out in the 70s.

Now pretend for a minute that RUSH's debut album was Permanent Waves or even worse (for you) Signals. Would you still be a RUSH fan? Would they still be one of your favourite bands if their catalogue consisted only of the music released between 1982 and 2013? It certainly wouldn't impact my fandom negatively at all. In fact, I am pretty sure I would have held the band in even higher esteem had either of those albums been their debut. But, of course, this is just a fantasy; The band needed to evolve and find themselves and the music they wanted to create. Still, I consider RUSH 1973-1979 to be a completely different band than 1980-2013.

From what you wrote, I can tell that you hate some of my favourite RUSH albums and that you dislike them for the exact reason I think they are great. The lyrics on Nobody's Hero are absolutely brilliant to me, for example. It is likely that the RUSH stuff I dislike is the exact stuff you love. I find the lyrics to Xanadu to be stupid drivel, for example. At least Nobody's Hero is saying something real! But it's not just the lyrics, it is everything. I like everything about post 1980 RUSH better than 1970s RUSH. That is the band I love. I think you like a different band than I do. Both bands may have the same musicians and songwriters, but they really do sound, feel, and read like two completely different bands.

Interests:Being a covers band hack
hillwalking
Just about anything in the great outdoors

Posted 09 July 2017 - 03:15 AM

diatribein, on 08 July 2017 - 07:30 PM, said:

Fridge, on 08 July 2017 - 02:30 AM, said:

diatribein, on 07 July 2017 - 07:11 PM, said:

Counterparts is nowhere near my favourite RUSH album, but I have to say, Fridge, that you and I are fans of two completely different bands both named RUSH.

No, same band, we just have differing views on some of their catalogue.

No, I am being quite serious about it being a different band. I'll explain:

I rank Counterparts as the 11th best RUSH studio album. So really it isn't one of my favourites, but I like enough songs on it that it isn't in the bottom third. That said, there are albums from every decade that I rank higher than Counterparts except for the 70s. Meaning that even though it isn't an album I favour that much, I still like Counterparts BETTER than anything RUSH released prior to Permanent Waves. Not by a little, either. The only album that I consider even close to Counterparts from the 70s is A Farewell To Kings (yes, I dislike Hemispheres).

Permanent Waves is a notable landmark, because it signalled a sea-change from long prog-rock multi-part songs to more easily accessible rock with popular chorus and melody structure. It also featured a lyrical shift from fantasy to poignant socially conscious lyrics, which is also important to me. The band was forever changed from that point and adopted a completely new ethos and song writing style which persisted until the end of their career. It is arguable that Clockwork Angels in some ways was a return to that pre-1980 style, and it is hardly surprising that it is my least favourite album released by the band not put out in the 1970s (excluding Feedback).

That 70s band, I do not like all that much. Had RUSH broken up after Hemispheres, I would have never listened to them. Had RUSH continued to release 4 to 6 track albums with multi-part progressive rock songs with starts and stops in them, I would have never bought an album. Had RUSH released albums that sounded vaguely Led Zeppeliny (like the 1st 2 albums) for the rest of their career, I would have never bought a RUSH album. I only started being a RUSH fan because the music they recorded on Grace Under Pressure, Power Windows, and Hold Your Fire. Those were the 3 albums that came out when I was a little kid discovering music. That is the RUSH sound I fell in love with. Some of the evolution afterwards I love (Roll The Bones and Snakes & Arrows) and some of it I find less good (Counterparts and Clockwork Angels), but ALL of it I like better than ANYTHING RUSH put out in the 70s.

Now pretend for a minute that RUSH's debut album was Permanent Waves or even worse (for you) Signals. Would you still be a RUSH fan? Would they still be one of your favourite bands if their catalogue consisted only of the music released between 1982 and 2013? It certainly wouldn't impact my fandom negatively at all. In fact, I am pretty sure I would have held the band in even higher esteem had either of those albums been their debut. But, of course, this is just a fantasy; The band needed to evolve and find themselves and the music they wanted to create. Still, I consider RUSH 1973-1979 to be a completely different band than 1980-2013.

From what you wrote, I can tell that you hate some of my favourite RUSH albums and that you dislike them for the exact reason I think they are great. The lyrics on Nobody's Hero are absolutely brilliant to me, for example. It is likely that the RUSH stuff I dislike is the exact stuff you love. I find the lyrics to Xanadu to be stupid drivel, for example. At least Nobody's Hero is saying something real! But it's not just the lyrics, it is everything. I like everything about post 1980 RUSH better than 1970s RUSH. That is the band I love. I think you like a different band than I do. Both bands may have the same musicians and songwriters, but they really do sound, feel, and read like two completely different bands.

You've gone to a lot of unnecessary time and trouble just to confirm exactly what I said....